Chapter 22 Depth of Betrayal
Chapter twenty-two
Depth of Betrayal
“I can never look your father in the eye again,” Evelina declared as Otto reversed them down the drive shortly before ten. Iouri had disappeared back inside almost as soon as Otto had rolled the engine over, but the flush hadn’t fully faded from Evelina’s face.
She knew the walls were thinner in the older home.
She remembered Otto’s declaration that he didn’t care who knew—that he wanted their relationship to be known.
She even remembered the thrill his words had sent firing through her, and the way that feeling had entirely disabled her awareness sensor for the rest of the night.
Knowing all of those things had not, for a singular moment, equated to properly comprehending the embarrassment of having her lover’s father tease them about wedding dates and babies over breakfast. He hadn’t said anything vulgar, of course.
But he hadn’t needed to. The mere fact that he was confident enough to be making such comments in front of her meant that he’d heard.
“I’m just saying, don’t forget to invite me to the wedding is all!”
Her head dropped against the seat as Iouri’s laughing voice replayed in her mind.
She knew he hadn’t meant anything by it.
His words were intended as harmless, needling fun.
At most, a lighthearted jab for forcing him to overhear their activities.
But they hadn’t talked about their future in such specific terms. Her chest constricted when she thought about it.
Marriage had never been anything good or happy from her perspective.
For her entire life, marriage had been the shackles symbolized in bruises always blooming across her mother’s skin and the impending doom of an invisible guillotine hovering over Evelina’s own neck. Marriage was a punishment, an obligation, and nothing more.
“I’m still willing to punch him if it’ll make you feel better,” Otto offered with a grunt. “Nosy old man.”
Evelina’s lips twitched. “The last thing I need is you getting arrested for a domestic dispute because all my resources are tapped thanks to that stupid house fire.”
He flicked a sidelong glance at her before returning his attention to the road. “Pretty sure it’d be elderly abuse, actually.”
“Even worse!” But she said it with a laugh, because she knew he wasn’t serious.
It was nice to laugh, even if it was only for a moment.
She knew the lightness she’d found by waking up in Otto’s arms, to Otto’s kisses, and sharing such a simple morning wouldn’t linger.
They were already halfway back to the house she dreaded seeing in the full light of day.
As if responding to her train of thought, the phone she’d set in the center console began to buzz with an incoming call.
She lifted the device on autopilot and her heart lodged in her throat at her traitorous best friend’s name, and an old laughing picture, smiling up at her.
The angry part of her wanted to dismiss the call, maybe block the number, but she put that voice on mute for the time being and forced herself to connect it instead.
She had no idea what she’d say, if it was possible for this to be a productive conversation, but probably it was a necessary one.
She brought the phone to her ear with one hand and reached out, latching her other hand onto Otto’s thigh just to remind herself he was with her. “Kat.”
Tension rolled through Otto’s body at the name and his fingers flexed over the wheel.
A familiar voice drew in an unsteady breath on the other end of the line. “I can’t believe you did that.”
A hard scoff tore from Evelina’s chest. “You’re kidding, right? After the messages I found in your secret phone? You really think I’m that stupid?”
“I can’t believe you don’t trust me!” Kat gasped, and the unbidden—unwanted—image of her crying on the phone filled Evelina’s mind.
“You should have said something, Lina! Asked me, called me out, yelled at me, I don’t care.
I know I deserve some of it. You really thought I was gonna, what, stab you to death in the backseat with my nailfile? ”
Evelina felt guilt threaten to choke her.
“There shouldn’t have been messages for me to find, Kat!
” She let her head thump against the seat again.
“What am I supposed to think now, huh? It’s not like we can be …
what I thought we were.” It would be stupid to even say ‘what they’d been,’ because she had no way to gauge how long she’d been in the dark.
“That’s”—Kat dragged in another hard breath—“why I called. I was hoping we could talk? Somewhere quiet and neutral.”
Evelina clutched harder to Otto’s thigh. “You actually think I would meet you right now?”
“We’ve been friends for years, Lina,” Kat said, her voice growing sadder.
“You’ll throw that away without one conversation?
Please. You can pick the place. And obviously, even though I’m not thrilled with him, I won’t object to Otto.
Or insist on hugs or anything. Just … one conversation.
Ask whatever. Let me explain. And if you can’t at least understand, or accept my truths, when it’s all done, I’ll leave you alone.
” She gave a weak, wet laugh. “I had to sneak my way back to the city already. Baby Daddy’s not happy, you know?
So that’s— No, that’s my issue. My point is, I’m choosing you. Please, let me explain.”
Dammit. She was still mad, and she had every right to be mad.
But Kat was right, too. They had been friends for years.
Maybe not all of it had been fully straightforward—obviously something had happened, somewhere along the way.
But she’d spent the entire drive home from Fort Wayne drowning in guilt over leaving Kat in that parking lot, immediate justification be damned, so maybe Evelina owed it to herself to give in to Kat’s request.
Even if it went horribly, even if everything Kat said ripped her apart at first, at least Evelina could tell herself she hadn’t closed that door.
“Okay, fine.” Otto’s gonna be so mad. “Let me figure out a place and call you back. It’ll probably be sooner than later, can you manage that?”
“Yeah, definitely. Thank you!”
They disconnected, and Evelina had enough time to lower the phone to her lap before the questions started.
“Why does it sound like you’re coordinating anything other than a hit on Orlov?”
“Otto.”
“She agreed to fucking murder you, Lina. You’re not talkin’ me into forgiving that snake. I read the texts, too.” Belying the anger in his words, Otto flicked the blinker on and whipped them into the next accessible parking lot. He rolled to an out-of-the-way spot and cut the engine.
Consumed by too many emotions to name, Evelina released her seat belt in order to better face him and did him the courtesy of not modulating her voice.
She could be genuine with him, and if everything went right, that would come to be an increasingly rare thing, so she was going to take advantage every time. “I know what Kat did.”
Otto twisted and laid an arm over the top of the wheel.
“I’m not asking you to forgive her,” Evelina continued.
“I haven’t decided to forgive her, either.
” As much as it hurt to admit. “I’m not going to let my guard down, or run off for some private girl talk or anything like that.
I want you with me, and I want her out of reach.
I want her to keep her hands where you can see them. ”
His frown didn’t falter. “But you still wanna talk.”
Evelina nodded. “Once. Just to hear … how she’ll defend it, or explain it, or if she’ll apologize at all.” She wished—hoped—she could will him to understand. “I owe the friendship I thought we had the decency of one conversation, even if it ends up being for nothing more than my own peace of mind.”
Otto exhaled harshly. “And if her answers don’t make it better? If they make it worse?”
Evelina dropped her gaze to her phone for a long minute.
She knew her response already, because she’d more or less figured it out the previous day, but this would be the first time she’d said the words out loud.
“Then she’s exiled.” She lifted her stare back to his.
“I won’t sanction a hit on a pregnant woman, no matter who the parents are, but I will banish her from Nikolaev territory.
” It was imperfect. Someone in exile could potentially be a threat. But she had to have limits.
Otto nodded. “Fine. I won’t ask you about punishments if she violates that exile unless we get that far.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What did you need figured out?”
She blinked at him. “You’re … letting it go?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m attempting to accept that this is your situation to handle, an’ my job is to mitigate the parts that might hurt. So, if this is how you want to try to resolve things with her, I’ll try to respect that. As long as Orlov doesn’t insist on being a threat.”
She felt herself smile. “Then you’ll help me figure out a neutral, out-of-the-way place she and I can chat?” She knew him well enough to see in his eyes he didn’t want to.
He drummed his fingers over the wheel before sighing and scooping his own phone from the cupholder between them. “What kind of place did you have in mind? Public?”
Evelina mulled that over for a minute, playing it out in her mind.
Meeting up at a random coffee shop seemed rather predictable, though she did understand the objective benefits of choosing a public space.
Ignorance would be bliss for them and potentially keep her safe if Kat’s plea was a charade.
No, I can’t go into this thinking like that.
Worse, though, was that if it was true Kat was also trying to avoid Pyotr, Evelina doubted a few straggling innocents would stop him.
Her legacy was off to a foul enough start as it was.
The last thing she needed was a mass shooting she could have avoided.